Most Russian state symbols have a complicated history. Russian autocrats - Peter the Great, Catherine II and others - periodically conducted companies to develop "brand books" for the largest cities of the country, often without taking into account local traditions.
The work involved heraldrymasters from Germany, France and other countries who simply used plots and characters from collections compiling European experience. The coat of arms of Yaroslavl, an ancient Russian city, has one of the oldest stories in the country, although there are ambiguities in it.
The capital of the Golden Ring of Russia
The Volga River has long played a crucial role in the fate of Russia, personifying the soul of this country for many. Yaroslavl became the first Volga Christian city mentioned in ancient chronicles, in particular in the Tale of Bygone Years. Today it is the largest among the ancient Russian cities included in the famous Golden Ring, and since its foundation, at the turn of the X-XI centuries, Yaroslavl was used by Russian princes as a stronghold for the Christianization of the Volga region and the creation of a single ancient Russian state.
There are several local folk traditions associated with the emergence of the city, with the name of its founder. The emblem of Yaroslavl contains echoes of these legends, although they were recorded much later, and their truthfulness is often questioned by many historians.
Yaroslav the Wise
The year of foundation of the city is considered to be the 1010th, and the prince who laid it is called the son of the first baptist of Russia, Vladimir St. Yaroslav Vladimirovich, nicknamed the Wise. He came from the Rurikovich family and occupied the princely throne in Rostov and Novgorod, was also the Grand Duke of Kiev. Yaroslav belongs to those rulers of the specific principalities into which the Old Russian state was divided, who understood that only together can one resist the raids of nomads from the southern steppes. His rule in metropolitan Kiev was marked by the appearance of the first set of laws - “Russian Truth”. It became for the great Russian principality the most important sign of united statehood.
The very name of the Volga city was formed on behalf of this ruler with the help of the ancient possessive suffix. The legend of the events that led to the coat of arms of Yaroslavl a bear with a golden ax is preserved in several editions: compact and more detailed.
Wild animal fight
A short version of the "bear story" Yaroslav told how during the military and missionary campaign of the prince, who then held the throne in Rostov, he was at the confluence of the Kotorosli River in the Volga . The soldiers accompanying the prince lingered in an impassable forest and Yaroslav went to the high Volga coast alone. Suddenly, a huge dipper emerged from the thicket and rushed at a man armed only with a battle ax.
When the vigilantes from the guard discovered their prince, they saw Yaroslav standing on the shore, and at the feet of his huge animal, hacked by an ax. In honor of his victory and miraculous salvation, Yaroslav ordered the construction of a church in the name of the prophet Elijah, with which the new city began, and a bear with a battle ax on his shoulder decorated the coat of arms of Yaroslavl.
Bear Corner
There was also a longer version. At the confluence of Kotorosli into the Volga, there was a Finno-Ugric settlement under the household name - Bear Corner. Once the inhabitants of this pagan town, distinguished by exuberant disposition and robber habits, looted a large commercial caravan sailing along the Volga. Yaroslav and his squad approached the walls of the Bear's Corner, demanding to extradite him for punishment for such atrocities.
Instead, pagans, who, according to some scholars, professed an ancient bear cult, released these bloodthirsty beasts to the prince. But Yaroslav with the warriors did not flinch or run, but chopped up this "wild" army with battle axes. The coat of arms of the city of Yaroslavl with a bear is a tribute to this bright event in the history of the city, which arose soon on the site of the legendary pagan settlement.
In the beginning there was a fish
The entry of Yaroslavl into the first centralized Russian state took place around 1463 and was peaceful. Since that time, the city is entered in the register of possessions of the Grand Duke of All Russia.
The Great Sovereign's seal of Ivan IV, on which the coats of arms of all territories belonging to the Moscow state were collected , became the first Russian heraldic work of such a volume. As new territories — Novgorod, Kazan, Siberia — joined the Muscovy, the main Seal of Ivan the Terrible also changed.
Among the thirteen characters depicted on the seal of the sample of 1583 and personifying all the possessions of the Russian tsar, the emblem of the city of Yaroslavl first appears. Inside the circle formed by the inscription: "Seal of Yaroslavl" was depicted a fish with its head facing left. For a city on the banks of a large river, fishing has always been an important part of the lifestyle of its inhabitants, but the full argument for the appearance of such a variant of the Yaroslavl coat of arms has not been preserved, and the main symbol of the city has changed in the future.
“Titular” by Alexei Mikhailovich
The Great Sovereign Book or The Root of Russian Sovereigns (Tsarskiy Titulyarnik) is a famous manuscript book made in four copies (three are known today) - the main reference guide to heraldry related to the domestic and foreign policy of the Russian state of the 17th century.
It was made in 1672 by unknown Russian masters under the guidance of the boyar Artamon Matveev, who was at the head of the Ambassadorial order, the bear - the coat of arms of Yaroslavl was first published. The history of subsequent modifications of such an emblem is associated with various types of military weapons, which he holds in his paws. Specialists in ancient weapons identified several varieties of a battle ax related to stabbing and chopping cold pole arms.
Protazan, Berdysh, ax
In the first known version, which was included in the “Titular”, as the description goes, the coat of arms of Yaroslavl is a bear with protazan. This is the name of a stabbing weapon, which is a double-edged trident of a special shape planted on a long handle. In Russian heraldry, protazan meant belonging to the Rurikovich family.
Sometimes the heraldic weapons of the Yaroslavl bear are called a berdysh or a coin, but the common name, which is included in the description, which has a modern coat of arms and the flag of Yaroslavl is “the golden ax, on the same hilt.” In addition to the differences in armament
Heraldic reform
By the end of the 18th century, during the administrative reforms carried out since the time of Peter and Catherine, the system of urban and viceroyal symbols throughout the empire was also processed. First of all, this concerned cities that belonged to the category of provincial centers. One of the first to have been highly approved and put into practice the coat of arms and flag of Yaroslavl. In 1730, the city emblem was agreed upon, on the basis of which stamps for official papers, military banners and standards of regiments stationed in Yaroslavl were made, etc.
An attempt to finally bring Russian heraldry to European standards and to a unified stylistic uniformity in the depiction of the most significant state symbols was undertaken by Alexander II. The development of the coat of arms of the city of Yaroslavl and the Yaroslavl province was entrusted, among others, to the prominent herald master of the time Bernard Vasilievich Köhne. First, the title coat of arms was approved - which was included as an integral part of the Great Coat of Arms of the Empire. It was a silver shield, in it - a black bear on its hind legs, its head - directly, in the left paw - a golden ax.
The coat of arms, in which the shield was supplemented by the imperial crown crowning it and framed by an oak wreath with the St. Andrew ribbon for unknown reasons, was not officially approved by the highest decree, although until Soviet times it was actively used as a city and provincial symbol.
Soviet time
After October 1917, together with other symbols of the monarchy, the coat of arms of the city of Yaroslavl was also withdrawn from official circulation. Photos related to the life of this region, related to the years of Soviet power, however, show that the historical bear with the ax did not disappear completely.
The Yaroslavl coat of arms had a too significant history to ignore for the sake of ideological struggle and not to use it in patriotic education. What the ancient emblem of Yaroslavl looks like, which means its filling, was known not only by historians in the city, but also by every schoolboy.
It was impossible to do without the legendary beast during the celebration of the round date - the 950th anniversary of the founding of the city, which was widely celebrated in 1960. The coat of arms of Yaroslavl, his photo, was replicated in postage stamps and envelopes, in posters and albums, in the design of city streets and squares.
Current state
The city celebrated the next significant date - a millennium birthday, already having the officially approved flag and coat of arms of Yaroslavl. The photos of the townspeople and numerous guests of the city, taken during the celebration, captured the diverse manifestations of the historical symbol. The bear and the ax were met in the form of huge sculptures in squares and streets, it adorned the ancient and modern facades of buildings, flowerbeds in gardens and parks.
The beast, which for many is not only a symbol of one ancient Russian city, but the whole country, flaunts on T-shirts of the Yaroslavl “Shinnik” and on the hockey sweaters of “Locomotive” - not the last clubs in domestic sports. He is familiar to connoisseurs of the popular products of the Yaroslavl distillery and brewery, and of course, to many tourists traveling along the Golden Ring of Russia.
A masterpiece of modern herald masters
What does the coat of arms of Yaroslavl and the Yaroslavl region made in 2002 in the State Heraldic Register of the Russian Federation look like? A full version of it is one of the best creations of domestic experts in the field of state symbols. Like most of these attributes, it does not have a canonical visual solution, binding. The main thing is that it is fully consistent with the legislative description:
In the golden shield is a black rising bear, with his left paw holding a silver poleaxe with his blade upside down, mounted on a red (scarlet) shaft. The shield is crowned with a purple princely hat with an ermine - in two rows of tails - an edge and three arches, of which two side are decorated with pearls, and the central one - with gems.
The shield is held: on the right is a golden-horned silver deer with golden mane and hooves, with a golden collar decorated with semiprecious stones, on the left is a black bear on guard - with a full face - with a scarlet tongue and crowned with an imperial crown. Shield holders stand on a patterned green foot.